Heres a method I've been using to make Shatter From Cannabis Trim or Nug with Grain Alcohol Or Isopropyl. The Steps are the same, I experimented with this on my own as i was unsatisfied with the results from butane extraction. I'm sure several people have been doing this for years but this is how i make my shatter.
Many of you may know this method as QWISO or Quick Wash Ethanol I call it making bomb ass clean shatter
Items Needed
One Pound of Trim Or Shake
Two 800 ML Mason Jars
Vacuum Oven
Two Buchner Funnels(Plastic works and doesnt leech anything into the product)
Four Non Bleached Coffee Filters
1.5 Gallons of 190 Proof Grain Alcohol(EverClear, Alchemical Solutions) OR 98% Isopropyl Alcohol or the strongest available
Two Large Flat Baking Trays
Nonstick Parchment Paper
Razor Blade, or small spoon
Clothes Pins
Large metal spoon
Freezer Space
Room with a table and a fan
Step 1
Grind up your Starting Material whether it be Trim, Shake or nug. Do not grind the product into powder or you will ruin the batch!
Place ground up cannabis in a plastic bag, Seal it and place in the freezer for 12 hours.
Clean the mason jars and buchner funnels( You don't want any random residue in your batch)
Place Mason jars in the freezer for 12 hours.
Step 2
After 12 hours has passed place two Non bleached Coffee filters in a Buchner Funnel and place it on top of the Mason jar so it sits in, if you bought the wrong size buchner funnel just place the coffee filter in the mason jar so it sits in and doesnt fall in.
With a large metal spoon place roughly 3 grams in the Coffee Filter. The 2nd Coffee Filter will stop anything but trichomes from falling into your mason jar.
Take the alcohol thats been in the freezer for 12 hours and pour on top of the weed thats sitting in the coffee filter suspended in the mason jar. Stop Pouring once you see all the weed Floating usually up to the half way mark on the Coffee Filter. Place the jar in the freezer and let the trichomes and alcohol drip through the coffee filters into the mason jar. Keep Repeating the process until you are finished with your weed and after a few hours you will have a full Jar of Yellow Trichomes/Alcohol. If it comes out green you extracted chlorphyl from the plant matter, Ways to avoid this is making sure your weed and alcohol is as cold as you can get it, Dont powder the weed when you break it up, Do One Fast pour of alcohol on top of the weed and let the weed float, dont keep adding more alcohol or it will bring out the green. After One wash you take out the majority of the trichomes, if you want to do a 2nd wash i would highly recommend using a different mason jar as it will come out more green in color and wont look as appealing.
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Step 3
Take your Flat Pan and line it with parchment paper, maybe even two layers just incase and use the clothes pin to secure it to the pan.
If you cannot find clothespin tuck the parchment under the pan when you set it down.
I used my laundry room which was located on my balcony to evaporate the alcohol.
Slowly pour your Alcohol/Trichome Mixture onto the parchment paper lined flat pan until its pretty much full. Make sure its kept in a dark place with good airflow, a bedroom isn't recommended unless you have a dresser or table to set it on and a window open with a fan or it will reek of alcohol.
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Depending on the temperature in your room it can take anywhere from 24-72 Hours to Fully Evaporate.
If you leave your shatter to evaporate outside in the sun the yellow color will turn red, Potency isn't affected whatsoever.
Below is a picture of the Final product when evaporated in the sun.
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After A day or two of letting your Trichome/Alcohol Evaporate from the Pan it should look like the picture below. It's okay if it still a little wet but the dryer the better. take a razorblade or a small spoon and carefully move the shatter into one big pile. Be very careful and do it slowly as it will crumble apart in shards everywhere! Once you have it in a big pile throw it in the Vacuum Oven for 6 Hours, Flip it and throw it in for another 6 Hours, and repeat the process until no more reaction occurs. The reaction would be a large bubble coming out of the shatter. One solid way of knowing if your shatter is ready is by leaving it out for a couple of hours and seeing if new bubbles form, if they do alcohol is still trapped inside your shatter and should be purged. You can skip the vacuum oven step but you have to wait a month or more for it to naturally evaporate.
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Your shatter will be hard as a rock unless you apply heat with your hands slowly on it, at that point you can roll it into a ball, a tootsie roll shape and trick your friends into thinking its hash and get them retarted!
This is the Final Product of what we did today.
Yield is determined by the quality of your shake/trim, How old is it? How was it kept? If it smells like a barn believe you will be extracting all those terpenes when you do this method so its best to have something that smells good so its enjoyable!
I'm new to writing these threads so any questions feel free to ask and i will answer as well as I can.
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